151/365 - Buckles

Ryan has been able to buckle his top buckle and unbuckle his bottom buckle for a couple of months now, but today, for the first time, he figured out how to buckle his bottom buckle and unbuckle his top buckle. He was so proud of himself and had the cutest grin on his face that I just had to capture with the P/S, since it was what was in my bag as we were headed out to Schlitterbahn for some water fun. It is one of those moments that I'm thrilled about but a little sad at the same time because it means my little boy isn't so little anymore. As we were pulling out the driveway, Ryan told me "Now you don't have to work so hard anymore Mom!"

150/365 - Hanging out

One of the things I really like about summer is that we get to just hang out!

149/365 - A boy and his dog

This morning I woke up to, "Mom, get your camera and take a picture of me", and this is what I found when I went out on the back patio. I love my boy, and his dog is pretty cute too!

148/365 - Recital

Randi had her dance recital today. We spent the morning at the theater doing a dress rehearsal and then went back in the evening for the real show, and I have to say my little dancer did wonderfully. She was so together, so poised, so excited, and so beautiful to watch on stage. She remember all her moves and even helped me with her costume changes between numbers. She would start changing even before I got back to help her, and she did some of her own make up. She is in a beginner combo class, so her group did 3 numbers, 1 jazz, 1 ballet, and 1 tap. Her favorite was the Jazz number, mine was the ballet. I had a lot of trouble with the lighting, so my shots are kind of hit or miss. I need to spend some time with Karren to find out how she gets such beautiful dance photos, but for now, at least these capture the moment.

147/365 - Bittersweet

We closed escrow on my Mom's house today; it is very bittersweet. I'm glad on the one hand and sad on the other for all the obvious reasons. We got the last things out of the house yesterday, and I cried when I took one last walk around. I could feel my Mom everywhere, yet I also knew it was time to move on and let new memories be made there. The young couple buying the house is very nice; the girl reminds me so much of my Mom....I think that is one of the reasons I wanted so badly for them to buy it and what makes it easier for me to turn it over to them. I hope they are as happy there as she was.

Randi made this sign and taped it to the patio door about a year ago. My Mom adored it, and I know it made her proud. She never took it down, and it was the last thing I took out of the house before closing the door one last time...

146/365 - Freddie's Frozen Custard

Ryan's order: lots of chocolate ice cream, 2 brownies, 4 cherries and sprinkles on top.
My boy is a chip off the old block.

145/365 - First Day of Summer

7:19 am - kids woke up
9:00 am - Randi had a dentist appt to fill a cavity (great way to start her summer break huh!)
10:20 am - went to Best Buy to look at TV's. The new house has way too many, but we still need one more! Ickes!
11:10 - Randi got her nails painted in hot pink with zebra stripes on them for being such a brave girl at the dentist.
11:35 - went shopping at Target....again!
12:25 - had lunch at Target. Their chicken and walnut salad is actually pretty good.
1:05 - Had frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf, YUM!
1:30 - went to Dicks Sporting Goods to look for a new life vest for Randi since she outgrew her last one.
1:40 - more shopping... at Ross this time. The kids each got to pick out a Pillow Pet for being so good today.
3:30 - kids went for their last gymnastics class of the term.
5:00 - Home at last
5:45 - dinner
8:45 - kids in bed
8:50 - cleaned up the house and put away all the chaos so we can start over and do it again tomorrow.
10:00 - started working on all the pictures from today's fun and yesterdays big events.
11:15 - finally putting up today's post.

144/365 - Kindergarten Graduation

First and last day of Kindergarten

Nine months ago you walked into a new school wearing new tennis shoes and carrying a new backpack. You were full of anticipation and excitment but were nervous and a bit scared at the same time. After the first few days you told me you liked your teacher and your new school but you were a little bored. I figured that might happen since it was your second year of Kindergarten, but your teacher was one step ahead of us and paired you up with a student who was having some trouble and you immediately took on the role of student teacher and helped him with things he didn't know or understand. And while he was learning things you already knew, you were learning to be stronger and more confident with your abilities. You made friends easily and played equally with the boys as you did with with the girls. Brianna, Shelby, Eryn, Seth, Duncan and Hudson were names you mentioned on a daily basis. Your favorite games to play on the playground with them were tag and "puppy".

As the year went on, your school work became more challenging and the harder it got, the more you liked it. You learned about reading, math, geography, the planets, human anatomy, different forms of art, speaking spanish, playing musical instruments, computers and so much more. I watched you grow and blossom into a beautiful young lady, full of love and grace. There was a moment today when I looked at you all dressed up in your pretty dress and little heals and realized you were no longer a little girl, and my heart filled with so much emotion.

The look of pride on your face as you marched up to the stage to receive your diploma will be forever ingrained in my mind. I know there are more graduations to come, but this one is special because for me it marks the end of your babyhood and a transition into young adulthood. A time when you'll spread your wings and take flight with all the new possibilities that are before you. I'm sad to let go of the past but can't wait to see what wonderful new adventures are in store for you. Your life is a blank slate just waiting for you to write your own story, and knowing you like I do, it will be a glorious story full of love, laughter and lofty dreams.

Congratulations of your special day Sunshine. I love you with all I am!

143/365 - Ryan

I went to Target this afternoon with a list a mile long of things I needed for the house as well as my camera so I could take a picture of something while I was there. But after 3 hours of pure shopping bliss, I realized I'd forgotten all about taking a photo (shopping was definitely the priority), so I snapped a picture of my very full cart in front of a cute rack of cute girls swimsuits. Well my cart was a mess and all that kept jumping out at me when I looked at my pictures on the computer when I got home was the giant $9.99 sign on the bathing suits, which I hadn't noticed when taking the picture. So, I scrapped the Target photo and decided to post this one I took of Ryan a couple of weeks ago when he was out gardening with Gee. I adore the sweet little smile on his face and it's one of the first pictures I've taken of him where he's starting to look like a young man to me rather than a little boy...sigh....

142/365 - Chalk Pencils

Gee and Ryan went shopping last week one day after she picked him up from school. She wanted him to get a little plastic boat to float in the creek, but he had his eye on something else and wouldn't leave the store without it...a huge pencil that hold chalk instead of lead. It was such a big hit that we had to go back and get 3 more for Randi and the cousins. Hunter and Kylie spent the night with us and the kids had a great time playing together. And during the 24 hours they were here, they spent at least 2 of those hours drawing with the chalk pencils. Ryan is learning to play tick-tac-toe, and in the last photo, Hunter is sharpening the chalk on his pencil with a special little thing that was included with it.

141/365 - Mini Olympics

The gym the kids go to and that Michael coaches at had their annual Mini Olympics today. The kids have been working on routines the last several weeks in class and today they got to show them off to us. It's kind of silly, but the kids love it and the ceremony and trophy that go with it. It only seemed natural that this would be what I'd use for my POD, but I just couldn't decide which one to use, so once again, another collage.

140/365 - Chillin'

We FINALLY got in the new pool today, and I don't know who enjoyed it more, us or the dogs!





I'm super excited tonight because I'm finally caught back up again. Yipee! I plan on doing a post to answer all your questions and hope to get back to visiting and commenting on everyone's blogs this weekend. Thank you for all your patience with me during this CRAZY time, and please remind me not to move again for a while ok!

139/365 - Medium Boy Furniture

Ryan's new "medium boy" furniture arrived today. For some reason he doesn't want us to call it his "big boy" furniture, so this is what he's deemed it. I don't mind because I don't want him to grow up, so maybe this will keep him small just a little bit longer. We're still waiting on his dresser because it was missing a part so they'll deliver it in another week or so, and we still need to pick out bedding, but at least his bed is off the ground and he has somewhere to set his water, so he's super excited that his new room is starting to come together.

138/365 - Field Trip

Randi and her classmates went on a field trip today to Enchanted Springs Ranch in Boerne. She had a great time, but I honestly think her favorite part of the day was riding the school bus. She's never ridden on a school bus before and was SO excited about it that it's all she's talked about for the last several days. Oh how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall inside the bus on the trip there and back. I bet she felt so grown up and had the best time with all her friends! For some reason I kept reflecting back on my days of riding the bus to and from school and what a great rite of passage that whole process was. It makes me realize that my little one is really growing up.

The ranch was a lot of fun. I had fun taking pictures of the kids, but the other photo opps around the ranch were fantastic and I kept finding myself being drawn away by some randomly cool thing, so it was a really, really fun day for me because I got to play too!

137/365 - Magnext

I have a confession to make; I'm a bargain shopper! However, I'm also a realist and am aware that I probably end up spending more money than I save because I just can't pass up a good deal. For example, two years ago I was in Target the day they were marking toys down 75%. Yep, you guessed it; $200.00 later I was walking out of the store with 2 carts full of toys. And even though it seemed like a lot of money at the time, I've had toys and gifts galore for the last two years. During the move, I came across one of the last of the Target clearance items; a Magnext magnet roller coaster marked down from $88.96 to $22.24 . Ryan finally spotted it during the move and just had to open it up and play with it. He loves it, and I loved playing with the lighting in the new playroom. I also thought it would be a good time to take Catherine's lead and try my monochrome setting. I'm glad I saw her post on it because I think it worked perfectly for this series and I normally would never have thought to try it. So thanks for sharing Catherine.

136/365 - The landscapers

One of the things we wanted to do at the new house was move a fence out a little to give us more room in the backyard. The previous owners had a stone walkway winding through the area we wanted to enlarge, so after the fence was relocated, we took out the stones to open the space up a bit more. Then we brought in some fresh topsoil and sod to finish off the area. We hired a guy to help with the project and when Ryan came home from school today, he couldn't wait to jump right in to give him a hand. I hope he keeps up this work ethic when he gets older!

135/365 - Pretty in Pink

OK, I admit it, I didn't take a picture today! I didn't pick up my camera all day. I honestly didn't even think about it. But rather than skip a day, I thought I'd post a picture I took a few weeks ago that I love but didn't end up using when I took it for one reason or another. Randi is so pretty in all that pink that I just couldn't resist. The little girl in the background is Alexandra, a good friend of Randi's who she went to school with her last year and is in Girl Scouts with this year.

134/365 - Party Time

Ryan was invited to Princess Harper's 4th birthday party today. I wanted to take Randi for dance recital pictures, so Michael took him to the party. I hear it was a great get together, and I'm sorry I had to miss it, but at least I got to see Ryan before and after the big event. He left a handsome young man and came home a knight in shining armor!



On a side note, the first photo was taken on the back porch in the AM and the second on the front landing in the afternoon. I need to learn my sweet spots around the new house, but I think I'm going to like the lighting around here once I get used to it.

133/365 - Jackson Browne

To celebrate our anniversary, Michael got us tickets to see Jackson Browne in Austin. Our niece came over to watch the kids, and before we left, I asked her to take a picture of us. After a couple of shots, we felt someone pushing himself in between our legs and the little guy who doesn't always want his picture taken all of sudden wanted in on the photo action. I loved that Cami snapped a photo of the moment!





Jackson played acoustically in a smallish venue, so it was a really intimate and magical evening. We had great seats and he played for almost 2 1/2 hours, so we really enjoyed ourselves. I love many of his songs, but "Your Bright Baby Blues" has always spoken to me in some special way, so I was thrilled when he played it. The above link is a bootleg recording from a similar show to the one we saw tonight, but below is a clearer version of the song without any visuals:

I'm sitting down by the highway
Down by that highway side
Everybody's going somewhere
Riding just as fast as they can ride
I guess they've got a lot to do
Before they can rest assured
Their lives are justified
Pray to God for me baby
He can let me slide

'Cause I've been up and down this highway
Far as my eyes can see
No matter how fast I run
I can never seem to get away from me
No matter where I am
I can't help feeling I'm just a day away
From where I want to be
Now I'm running home baby
Like a river to the sea

Baby if you can see me
Out across this wilderness
There's just one thing
I was hoping you might guess
Baby you can free me
All in the power of your sweet tenderness

I can see it in your eyes
You've got those bright baby blues
You don't see what you've got to gain
But you don't like to lose
You watch yourself from the sidelines
Like your life is a game you don't mind playing
To keep yourself amused
I don't mean to be cruel baby
But you're looking confused

Baby if you can hear me
Turn down your radio
There's just one thing
I want you to know
When you've been near me
I've felt the love stirring in my soul

It's so hard to come by
That feeling of peace
This friend of mine said
"Close your eyes, and try a few of these"
I thought I flying like a bird
So far above my sorrow
But when I looked down
I was standing on my knees
Now I need someone to help me
Someone to help me please

Baby if you need me
Like I know I need you
There's just one thing
I'll ask you to do
Take my hand and lead me
To the hole in your garden wall
And pull me through

132/365 - Taking a break

I took a break from unpacking this afternoon to take Randi to her guitar lesson. She does better when I don't stay with her, so I had 40 minutes of time to do whatever I wanted. I thought about taking a cat nap or reading a magazine in the car, but instead I went to the park and sat by the river. I enjoyed dangling my feet in the water and spending a little quality time with the local resident ducks.

131/365 - We're Home!

My muscles are sore, my back aches, there are boxes everywhere, I've been getting about 4 hours of sleep the last couple of nights, I'm so tired I can hardly stay away to write this, but we're in the new house, all of our stuff is here, and slowly but surely things are coming together. I'll write more later, but for now this is all I could muster. The cable men came today and hooked up the TV's and we had a new bedroom suite delivered. Tomorrow, the new Sleep Number bed arrives. After the kids got out of the bath, this is where I found them...in the middle of the new bed, watching TV. They were perfectly comfortable right there and didn't seem to notice that there wasn't a mattress on the bed yet. At least it made me stop for a few minutes and appreciate the humor in something so silly.

130/365 - I love you

The movers are here today, so I had to take the computer down last night, therefore I'm really doing this the night before just in case I can't get back on line tomorrow (today). I hope to remember to take a picture of the moving men in the morning, but just in case I forget, I took this photo on Mother's Day and adore it, so I thought today would be a good day to post it.

129/365 - Cousins

Hunter & Kylie are Michael's oldest brother, Rusty, kids. They are one of the main reasons we moved to Texas. We don't get to see them as much as we'd like to, but when we do get the kids together, they have SO much fun!

128/365 - Mother's Day

I thought of you with love today
But that is nothing new,
I thought about you yesterday
And days before that too.
I think of you in silence
I often speak your name,
Now all I have are memories
And your picture in a frame.
Though on earth you are no more,
But in my memory you are with me
As you always were before.
A million times I've thought of you
A million times I've cried,
If loving could have saved you
You would have never died.
You left me beautiful memories
Your love is still my guide,
And though I cannot see you
You are always at my side.
It broke my heart to lose you
But you did not go alone,
Part of me went with you
On the day God called you home.
Forgive me Lord, I'll always weep
For the Mom I loved, but could not keep.
....Anonymous

127/365 - Prayers

My dear, sweet friend had her precious baby last night. Unfortunately there were some complications during delivery. We're not sure what the outcome will be, so she and the baby need all the prayers and positive thoughts you can send her way.



We're about half way moved into the new house and things are coming along nicely. We've managed to finish several projects on the "to do" list before we moved in, so that makes me happy. The one thing that doesn't make me happy is how tired I am and how little time I have to be on the computer. I thank you all for your loyal support and wonderful comments, and please forgive me for my lack of commenting. I know I've said it before, but I feel bad that I haven't been able to comment as much as I'd like to so I just wanted to say it again.

126/365 - Happy Anniversary

16 years ago today I walked through a beautiful grove of pecan trees and married the love of my life, my soul mate, my best friend. There isn't a more perfect person in the world for me; I truly believe we were destined to be together. He is the person I can talk to about anything, who knows what I'm thinking...sometimes without even having to say anything. He brings out the best in me and yet holds me up when I don't think I can stand any longer. He is a good man and a wonderful father to our children. I love him with all that I am, and I adore our life together.

We haven't gone out much lately, but since my Aunt is still staying with us, we took advantage of the opportunity and on the recommendation of my soul sister, Kim, we went to see "Soul Surfer". It was not at all what I expected and one of the most inspiring movies I've seen in a long time. I cried through about 1/2 of the movie, some sad tears, some happy tears, and left the theater will a renewed outlook on many of the adversities we face in our lives. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and put it on your "to do" list.

My auntie took this picture of us as we were heading out the door. It is technically a mess, but I love the love going on in it...and the ironic way my shirt is so perfect for the moment...and I promise I didn't plan that...I just grabbed a clean shirt out of the closet and put it on not even thinking about what it said. So I just couldn't not use it!





This picture was taken last October, but I wanted to included it anyways for a few reasons. One, we have very few pictures of just us together, so it's one of the few fairly recent ones I have. Two, we rarely get dressed up, so you don't see us like this very often. And third, my Mom took this picture. It was the last time she stayed with the kids so we could go out for a night on the town. Eleven days later she went in to have her hernia repaired and never came home.

125/365 - Spring Concert

The kids had a Spring Concert tonight at their school. Randi was super excited to go; Ryan on the other hand was very serious about the whole production. He didn't mind getting dressed up in his little man suit and was all business when we got there. I know I'm biased, but he did look VERY handsome. Randi was glowing and performed so well. It's amazing how shy and reserved she can be in some situations and how outgoing and confident she can be in others. She is one of the tallest in her class, so she was on the back row and it was a little hard to see her, but she moved over a bit so I'd have a better view of her...now that's a good little photographer's child!



The top left photo is Randi with her teacher, Ms. Aurora. They have a wonderful relationship and really adore each other. The middle left photo is Randi with her current sort-of boyfriend, Hudson. They make such a cute couple, and it was fun to watch them stand close to each other but not touch when I took their photo. Ryan's classmates were so cute when he walked in the room, telling him how handsome he looked and giving him lots of hugs. However, Ryan was not feeling the love and was very stoic and serious when he got up on the stage. Fortunately he loosened up a little once they started singing and did a great job remember the words and hand movements, and I could tell he was very proud of himself when they finished by the way he walked back over to me with a cute little smirky smile on his face. The group photos are the kids with their buddies, Sydney & Bryce. They used to live two doors down from us but recently moved. The kids really miss them and as we were leaving, Ryan said "Mom, I want to go play at Bryce's house (because he has lots of cool toys). Thankfully we'll be a little closer to them in the new house, so hopefully we'll get to see a bit more of them once again.

124/365 - Beauty in Home Depot

I had to make another run to Home Depot today for supplies for projects at the new house. I remembered Misty taking some great flower photos there a while back, so I took my camera along again and found this treasure. If I hadn't been looking for something pretty, I might have walked right past it on my way to the lumber section, but instead I stopped and looked at all the different orchids deciding which one I liked the best and how the different light in the store fell on them, and I really enjoyed spending some time with them...and then I went and got some 4x4 posts and found their knot holes very interesting too...but not interesting enough to take a picture of them.

Hot off the Press

I just found out Ryan's silhouette photo won the Click it up a Notch April photo contest. Thank you to everyone who voted and for all your wonderful comments, and congratulations to all the other finalists. I'm humbled and proud to be part of such an awesome network of family, friends and other photographers.



For some reason the opening statement from the Bishop of London at the royal wedding keeps going through my head, "Be who God meant you to be and you shall set the world on fire".

One thing I've learned from my 365 photo journey is if you set your mind to something and pursue it with purpose, there are no limits to where the path may take you. I have learned so much about my camera, about lighting, about processing, about new found friends and faithful friends and family who've supported me in this venture, and about finding something interesting and beautiful even in the most mundane and ordinary things. Beauty is all around us if we just take the time to see it.

123/365 - Decisions, Decisions

Randi wants to paint her new room lime green with white trim; I think it's a good choice and will be nice and bright and cheery.
Ryan wants to paint his new room red or black; I'm not sold on his choice yet, so I'm trying to get him to embrace the brown that's already on the walls and then do some fun, bright colors with his bedding and accents. I'm hoping he'll see the light!

122/365 - Yoga Time

The kids didn't have school today, so Gee came to help with them so Michael and I could pack and move stuff over to the new house. They started their day by sitting outside on the front porch, listening to the morning sounds and watching the world come alive. We had a cold front move in last night, so they didn't last long outside and decided to come inside and do a little Yoga. They watched a children's ABC Yoga DVD that's easy for the kids to relate to and educational at the same time. It was so fun to watch them and thought what a perfect opportunity to get my picture for the day. Well, I couldn't decide which to use, so yet another collage.

Another contest

I'm so overwhelmed by all the wonderful comments and people that I've connected with via the silhouette photo I submitted to the Click it up a Notch photo contest. I've had a couple of people ask me to enter it in their contests and have found other contests from people that have commented, so I'm once again adding it to a contest over at Life is too short not to wear red shoes. Plus I'm submitting another portrait that I recently took of my girlfriends daughter that I just adore. Wish me luck.

121/365 - Spring Festival

We spent the day playing at the kids' school Spring Festival. I volunteered to paint nails and do temporary tattoos while Daddy and Gee took the kids around to play games and go on rides. They sure had a lot of fun. I love how intense Ryan's expressions were while he was playing on a riding motorcycle game. Oh to be young and so easily amused once again!